As one of UK Sport’s Event Social Impact Partners, we were thrilled to be able to give six young people from our community partner Reach Up Youth the opportunity to attend the ISU Figure Skating European Championships at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena. The group took part in a content creation masterclass with experts from Lucky Socks Media before capturing and editing their own content from across the event.
We caught up with some of them on the final day to find out more about their experiences.
Safro, 19
Safro moved from London to Sheffield less than a year ago and quickly found a community through Reach Up Youth. With around a million TikTok followers, he’s an established online creator of comedy and parody content – but mostly works solo and from home.
One of his biggest takeaways from this experience was around the power of collaboration:
“Because I make videos of myself, I’m not used to collaborating. But one thing I realised is collaborating and coming together, mixed ideas are even better. I had one idea, then Karl [from Lucky Socks] came, and then he added to the idea, and it was like, oh, this is something I wouldn’t ever think of.”
This opportunity has also reminded him that his digital skills are a powerful asset and something to be proud of:
“This experience made me feel like, oh, being online is actually something that people can take seriously, instead of being brushed off.”
Experiencing a new environment and a new sport has also helped him to widen his perspective and broaden his horizons:
“I’ve never seen people skate, period. But honestly, it’s nice to do something that’s a bit different to what you usually do.”
Asha
Asha is a founding member of Reach Up Youth, and continues to volunteer with the organisation around her full‑time work as a community development practitioner. Although she has previously completed online Mental Health First Aid training with StreetGames, this was her first hands‑on, in-person opportunity with us.
Upon first hearing about the opportunity, Asha was initially nervous about entering a space she’d always assumed wasn’t inclusive:
“I’ve always seen that it’s not inclusive to me and not somewhere where, as a usually confident person, I’d walk through the doors.”
The experience was a pleasant surprise, however. The training from Lucky Socks Media was practical, interactive and made with young people in mind – and also helped her realise she has more potential in content creation than she previously believed:
“It was very inclusive… instead of just learning, we were actually contributing. I really enjoyed that. It kind of broadened my horizons and I feel like I can do a lot more.”
Importantly, the weekend left her feeling empowered and included:
“I do feel like we did break a few barriers… I think it built up my confidence.”
And the skills she has learnt stuck immediately:
“Even last night, when I was editing something, I remembered everything Karl told me. And I got a lot more views!”
Aymen, 19
Aymen heard about Reach Up Youth through friends and signed up for the content creator opportunity out of curiosity. He creates and edits personal TikToks but had never participated in anything like this previously.
He wasn’t sure what to expect from the weekend, but came away with a wealth of new skills:
“It taught us a lot – editing, filming, everything like that. We came up with so many ideas, especially between us all. There must have been tons of ideas that we came up with.”
Editing was something he had struggled with previously, but the hands‑on support helped him break through that barrier:
“Editing was something I knew I could do, but I was always a bit anxious… this showed me it’s not as hard as I made it out to be.”
Reflecting on the weekend as a whole, he shared:
“I definitely feel more confident and more comfortable. Everyone collectively made that possible. It’s been a great experience.”
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